


Folkvang

by JanaRumpandRCJawnn (JanaRumpandRCJawwn)



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternative Universe - Mad Max, Gen, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Minor Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-01
Updated: 2016-10-01
Packaged: 2018-08-18 21:42:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8177065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JanaRumpandRCJawwn/pseuds/JanaRumpandRCJawnn
Summary: War Boys dreamed of going to Valhalla, but they weren't War Boys.
They were going to live.





	

The news hit Yamagata like a punch to the gut.

It's not like he hadn’t seen Goshiki getting taken to the big room, or like he hadn’t heard the boy sobbing. He knew what happened inside those walls, he wasn’t dumb. He had been living inside the Vault for more than 7000 days, had seen this happening time and time again.

It shouldn’t bother him so much anymore. However, when the Organic Mechanic declared that Goshiki was with child, Yamagata felt bile raising to his throat. The young boy just stared at nothing, trying to keep himself strong. Kawanishi was cursing somewhere behind him, while Semi pulled the younger closer and kissed his temple. The Organic just sighed and left to inform the Coach about this, mentioning that the Alpha definitely would be pleased. 

“I hate him!” Goshiki hissed, biting his tongue, tears overflowing his eyes. 

Yamagata knelt in front of the boy, at a loss for words. He was so young, only 5.500 days, all those spent inside that Vault - he had never been outside, and never would be. Just another prized breeder to that disgusting old man. And his baby would be another one of these locked up kids, or would be condemned to be a Warlord with all of those tragic alphas upstairs. This new life shouldn't be warped like this, nor the one Shirabu had been carrying. Goshiki bit his lower lip, anger and frustration in his every breath, and Yamagata felt disgusted by himself even while caressing his face. He was responsible for all of this in a way, the first wall to keep them inside, supposed to care for them but failing completely. He was an accomplice to their suffering any time he dressed them up or brushed their hair for that sick man's pleasure.

“I’m sorry, Child.” He whispered, and rubbed his thumbs now on the back of Goshiki’s hand. 

“Can’t I get rid of it? Like Ushi did.”

“Ushijima also lost his arm and got cast out of here.” Shirabu’s sharp tone made no room for discussion. And he was right, the only reason Ushijima had not died was because he was The Coach’s favorite. Goshiki was high in the Alpha’s liking but nowhere near where the other used to be. 

“You all should rest. He is probably gonna come by sooner rather than later to check on you.”

They nodded somberly before heading back to their rooms, all of them looking so defeated. Fuck, the last time he had seen this kind of faces was the day they dragged Ushijima out of there in a river of blood. Something inside Yamagata stirred when he thought about the other Omega - now Imperator. He needed to tell him about this, he must. He would've discussed the matter with Semi first, but not right now. Right now Goshiki needed the other much more. He sighed and waited for a couple moments before leaving - which he was allowed to, but never did. What would he do outside? It was too late to join the War ranks, and Yamagata was too aware of his sins to believe Valhalla awaited from it. At least inside the Vault he had a purpose, and he had people who liked him. 

His way out was a secret, so well kept that only he and The Coach knew of it. Of course, the exit on the caves was always being guarded by some warboys, just in case one of the breeders found it. He wasn’t too familiar with the wormholes, the one thousand walkways between the parts of the canyon. He supposed it would be particularly hard to find one Imperator in the mist of it all, but he decided to try anyway. He asked another Organic Mechanic, he asked some warpups, even though looking at them always hurt. Half-life kids, some of them might even have come from one of the brides - there had been so many beta babies taken from them along the years. He wondered how many of those kids he had seen being born. And he almost wished all the babies would be like this. At least among the warboys they’d have a semblance of hope and family, even if everything was twisted.

He spent a long time searching for Ushijima, struggling not to think about how the kids were alone with that old man, without him to try to protect them. The Imperator was sitting near his warrig, looking at it with arms crossed over his chest. He looked so different now, hair shaven short, metal arm, more functional and heavy clothes. He had grown up a lot, became stronger and more serious since the last they saw each other. Yamagata just stared at him for a couple of moments, considering what he was about to do. He wasn’t kidding himself that telling Ushijima about all this wouldn’t have a giant impact. Still, he couldn’t shake this feeling that he had to do it. He owed them as much. Or he would be stuck losing his soul piece by piece and watching more and more children going through the same thing over and over and over. 

He approached the man, trying not to be too sneaky. He didn’t want to startle a Imperator and end up hurt. Ushijima turned to look at him, seeming confused for a moment, before the recognition hit him. 

“Yamagata? What are you doing here?” 

“I need to talk to you.” He was tense, looking around trying to sense some grasp of privacy, enough that Ushijima put a warm hand to his shoulder and gestured towards the back of the cave, away from the warrig and from the warpups walking around.

“How is everyone?” 

He told everything he could in the most succinct way. Still he made sure to talk about everything, about how Semi missed him, even about the kids Ushijima hadn’t been Vaulted with. He made sure to give all the good info before breaking the news, before asking for Ushijima to help them. When Yamagata finally said it, he saw the shock in the other’s usually neutral face, saw the way Ushijima looked away and bit his lower lip. The disgust was still clear when he finally spoke up, asking a question that Yamagata already knew the answer to. 

_If I find a way, will they leave?_

-

It was a wonderful day.

Tendou had such a good feeling about today. Earlier, as he was finishing the preparations for the supply run, Ushijima had asked him to go check on the rooster for the day, make sure everything was in order and they wouldn't get any troublemakers. Tendou wouldn’t lie and say he wasn’t smug about it. It hadn’t been that hard to ask the Ace about it, it had been harder making sure the Owl wasn’t in charge of one of the backup cars, too damn noisy that one. Not that Tendou disliked him, actually he adored his brother, it was just the guys in Gas Town weren’t very fond of his noisiness and neither was Ushijima. In the end he convinced the Ace to send the Owl on a raiding to the West, a three day trip so he wouldn’t be mad. 

Now, the Coach was being celebrated. Shouting the chants with the rest of the War boys he waited for the man - the myth - to show up in the opening so he could catch even the smallest glimpse. Tendou knew today might be the day he finally walked through the gates of Valhalla, so he couldn’t control the smirk on his lips as they stood there and their deliverer and redeemer finally appeared to announce their mission - to haul Aqua Cola and Mother’s Milk to Gas Town and Bullet Farm, get the supplies back and kill anyone that tried to interfere. The crowd saluted Ushijima as he climbed into the cabin of the War Rig, then the Kamakraze warboys as they honored V8. Tendou had done this routine more times than he knew how to count, but today everything felt different. Ushijima looked particularly chrome today, even more important and distant. 

As the engine kicked in motion, Tendou stood at his place, looking at the Horizon. 

He liked looking towards there and imagining how running eternally in Valhalla would feel, if everything around him would be shiny and chrome. If there would be water, and if he would have a War Rig of his own - though he had to admit he’d prefer this one. Being a Lancer and a quartermaster was something more to his taste. Not that he couldn’t drive - he could, he was damn good at it - but driving seemed too lonely for him. He was brought back from his thoughts - he always thought too much, the Organic said, it wasn’t healthy for a war boy to think so much - by one of his brothers teasing him. Tendou didn’t hear his words exactly, though he could identify the mocking tone, so he just made his best scary face and moved a bit further along, crouching to watch as the signals were sent from one point to the other. 

 

They had gone through almost half of the path when the war rig made a turn, and it startled everyone. There were no turns in the way to Gas Town. One of his brothers shouted that he should go ask his favorite Imperator about it, to which Tendou agreed, hanging around the side of the car so he made it to the side widow of the cabin. 

“Yo, Boss!” He always called Ushijima boss, it felt so fitting. “Guys wanna ask why you made a turn. Are we not gonna make a deliver?”

The Imperator didn’t reply, just kept a straight face looking ahead for a couple of moments, before turning to the other side and speaking with a monotone voice.

“Buzzards to the right. Let’s give the boys something to do.”

Tendou smiled, all teeth, before Ushijima pulled the siren and he shouted to the back.

“Buzzards to the right! Eyes on it! Eyes on it! Buzzards to the right!” 

And the shouts began. The sole perspective of a fight put all of them on edge, excited as the day they were first taken outside the Citadel. Tendou’s body moved on pure instinct, hanging from the sides, grabbing spears. Kill the Buzzards, destroy their spiky cars. He was pretty sure he witnessed two of his brothers going towards the Gates. One had a Mediocre performance, the other did amazing. Eventually though, he saw something on the Horizon, the flares of a Furious Vexation. Back up from the Citadel it seemed. He again went towards Ushijima. 

“Boss! It seems we have Back up. Do you wanna turn and run the Buzzards into them?” 

“No. We deal with them.” 

By the Coach himself, could he be anymore amazing? The pure look on his face, a mix of monotone displeasure and excitement. No matter what he said, Ushijima liked fighting as much as the next guy. Tendou smirked openly, because yes, this is what he wanted to hear, deep down the idea of dying during a fight with Ushijima by his side was the best thing he could have thought about. He was a good shot, he was good at predicting what people would do and where they would be, so it was not hard to do a good job. Never as good as Ushijima though, Ushijima could probably take care of all those buzzards alone just with his skill and power. 

Eventually they managed to destroy the assholes, but the Vexation kept approaching them. Tendou didn’t like it too much, he could hear the car with the music, and they never really let that guy go outside unless it was something big. Perhaps a super secret mission from the Coach? That would be more than fantastic. If just Ushijima would slow down so they could catch up with the rest. There weren’t so many war boys and cars in their convoy now - to be specific there was only Tendou left and only their war rig standing. They would need backup for whatever they were doing. One of the cars was fast approaching as Tendou went back to talk to his driver. 

“Hey Boss! What’s is this? Decoy? Bait?”

“Detour.”

He frowned trying to understand what was going on. The car caught up to them at last and he heard the lancer shouting. 

“Get out of the way, crew!” 

He turned back, looking at them very much confused. They were aiming at Ushijima? Had they lost it? 

“What are you doing?” 

“Dealing with a traitor.” The driver from the car replied with a hiss. 

This time Tendou turned to Ushijima. 

“What did you do?”

They couldn’t be traitors, Ushijima _couldn’t_ be a traitor. To be a traitor would mean to never enter Valhalla, the worst punishment one could bring upon themselves. What could Ushijima have done to incite a war party coming after them? Anyway, he couldn’t let that lancer kill his driver, he couldn’t let things end like this. He could fix it, Tendou was smart, so he turned and shot the other car’s tire, making it start spinning. He apologized to V8 and asked for comprehension on his actions. There wasn’t another way. As he looked ahead he could see they were approaching a Sandstorm, one of the big ones. This was not good, meant he had almost no time to set this mess straight.

“What did you do, Ushijima?”

“What had to be done, Tendou.” He wasn't granted even a look to his face with that reply. 

Before he could ask anymore the door to the secret compartment opened - Tendou knew the war rig up and down, every nook and cranny, that one should be empty - and two figures dragged themselves outside. 

The first thing Tendou noticed was how chrome and shinny they were, skin smooth as a baby, thin clothes that barely covered their figures. Omegas. Breeders. Not the kind of breeder he had seen and interacted with. The different kind, Ushijima’s kind. And he understood all at once. His driver, the person he most admired in the world, had stolen The Coach’s property, he had stolen his prized breeders, the ones he kept safe and hidden from everyone. He turned in desperation, grabbing the wheel as he shouted. 

“You have to give them back! They belong to the Coach!” 

Before he was shoved off by the metal arm, shoved off the war rig and into the sand, he heard Ushijima’s voice.

_We are not things._

 

 

 

When Tendou woke up later, he didn’t know how long had it been. He felt like he was buried, could barely move his limbs, everything seemed sore and tense. It took him some moments to fully remember where he was and what had happened, and when he did he practically jumped up. Even if it hurt, he couldn’t give himself the luxury of stopping, so he started walking on the desert. He could vaguely see the road, or have an idea where it was at least. 

He wondered how long he had been out, how far away they were. He had to find Ushijima, had to make sure he saw he was wrong - that no one could betray the Coach like this. Yes, the imperator had once done something that angered the Coach - not that Tendou knew what it had been, but it had to be big for him to have been cast away from the Vault. This was completely different though, this was war-parties-summoned angry, this was I’ll-slowly-kill-you angry. 

Suddenly Tendou spotted a car a while ahead. This was good, he could find them more quickly if he had a car. 

There were two things he noticed when he was approaching the car though. One was that it was completely useless, fucking destroyed. Such a pity, it seemed like a pretty decent car, not a war rig but useful. Second was that there was someone awake and alive. Someone with a chain attached to a muzzle, and well, Tendou knew well enough of life to know that was someone’s blood bag - maybe it would even be useful. He approached and called out, feeling somewhat smug at his good predicament. 

“Yo, Blood Bag! Is your War boy dead?”

The Blood Bag flinched at him, obviously on edge. There was no reply, just a piercing gaze at Tendou’s direction, as he was about to say something...

The Blood Bag just punched him hard enough to knock him out again.

\--

 

The War Rig stopped. 

Reon groaned to himself throwing his head back. Obviously the motor was bobby trapped, he had done it with his own V8, why wouldn't a War Rig driver do it? He looked out of his window to indeed see that driver standing there. It seemed the Omega had put his arm back on, and Reon had to admit it had been one hell of a hard fight against the man, so just to be sure he pointed the pistol at the man’s head. 

“I can make it work.” 

“Then do it.” Reon wasn’t exactly a very talkative guy, he also wasn’t that interested in company, but he did need help.

“Where I go, they go.” The driver pointed to the group of Omegas behind him.

Reon didn’t know what to think of them. First, they were all dressed in clothes that were too thin for the Wasteland, second, _they had a baby with them, a live healthy human baby_. Third, the one Reon had shot on the leg had a big pregnant belly, and fourth, they had a fucking baby. He had never even seen a live human baby in all his life, it was the sort of stuff he never thought he would see, especially in the Wasteland, in a War Rig being hunted by War Parties. He could tell those Omegas were trouble, could tell they were the reason the Furious Vexation had been set loose. He was not about to be dumb and get into more trouble, running those Omegas away from The Coach, or whatever he was called. So he just crossed his arms over his chest and mumbled.

“Then we stay.”

The Driver slowly climbed the side of the vehicle and Reon made sure he was aware that the gun was aimed straight at his face, so he wouldn’t dare do anything.

“You are counting on the gratitude of a very bad man. You’ve already hurt one of his properties. Do you think he will be forgiving?” Reon shrugged in reply. “You’re sitting on a war rig with nitro motor and a full tank of gas, and you have a five minute headstart. You let me climb up there and you get your freedom.”

Reon had heard from the Citadel, of crazed Alphas drunk on power that weren’t afraid to take people as their property - the tattoos now on his back were a proof of that. The man had a point, as much as Reon wanted to say he didn’t, so he just scooted to the side and gestured with his head towards the wheel. The driver climbed on and as he moved his hand towards where Reon could only assume the bobby trap was, he moved first and grabbed a gun hidden there. The omegas were climbing in on the back seat, and just for good measure Reon started going for the places he would hide guns, and he was not surprised to find a weapon in all those places. He then kept two pistols, one pointed at the Omegas and another at the driver. They started moving and he could hear the Omegas speaking with disgust. 

“Of all the legs you had to shoot, this one had to be attached to his favorite.” The one omega carrying the baby complained with a heavy sigh. 

“Do you think he will go to the green place with us?” The injured boy asked, seeming uncertain.

He didn’t understand why they kept going on about this green place, it must be some radiation caused delusion. There were no green places on the wastes. 

“No way. He's an smeg.” 

Reon rolled his eyes. These kids thought very little of him, which was not at all a surprise. They were all silent for a good while, and he was thankful for that, until one of the kids - they had to be kids, they looked so young, so smooth and well fed - pointed at the horizon.

“What is that to the west?”

He wanted to look, but he wasn't dumb enough to take his eyes off them just like that, so he pulled one of the Omegas and put the gun’s barrel against his chin before looking back to see a war party in the distance. One of the kids soon grabbed a small binocular and spoke up.

“A bunch of boys from Gas Town... And look, the People Eater himself.”

That didn't sound good at all. Reon looked back at the driver, who just kept staring ahead with pure determination. Across from him, on the horizon, he could see another group driving on their direction. If he had to guess he'd it was the guys from the Bullet Farm, with his luck it would be the Bullet Farmer himself. What had he gotten himself into? He was gonna die and it didn’t faze him even a bit. Not until he looked ahead and saw a canyon opening up before them. He patted the wheel and shook his head. Reon didn’t mind dying that much, but getting captured and tortured was a big no. The driver stared at him right then.

“We have nowhere else to go, and I’ve secured safe passage for us up ahead.”

“This seems like a bad idea.”

The other just nodded at Reon. They were screwed, but they were also lacking options, so he just sighed and rested his back against the door as they entered the canyon. Silence continued and well, it was starting to make him nervous, but soon enough the driver himself broke it. 

“All of you, go into the hole.”

“Hum?” Reon mumbled, gun still pointing at the rest of the omegas. 

“I was supposed to be alone, if they see them we'll be in trouble. You'll have to hid on the back too.”

It made sense, but Reon still needed leverage, he didn’t completely trust those people - he didn’t trust them even the slightest bit, to be honest. So he pointed at the one with the baby, trying to make his voice and grip firm.

“You stay there.”

He opened his mouth to complain for a second, so Reon arched an eyebrow trying to avoid another fucking discussion. The rest of the group slid into the hole, giving him nasty looks in the process. He himself jumped back and pulled the boy and the baby close, going low enough so they wouldn’t be seen from the outside, gun pressed against the side of the blond’s body. The boy just kept the baby close to his chest. They were very lucky the kid was asleep or very quiet all this time, which might fuck them up later, but right now Reon just hoped it kept on like that. He was distracted enough by that to startle when the driver began talking to him one more, giving him instructions about the bobby trap. Paying no attention to Reon's frown. 

“What’s your name?” He asked then, after repeating the sequence like two times.

Reon didn’t tell him, he didn’t see the point. The same way he didn’t wanna learn their names, giving people names meant starting to attach yourself to them. As long as they were just a bunch of people, no names, no info, nothing, he would be safe. With his silence, came a deep sigh from the driver. 

“I might need you to drive, so if you hear me shout ‘Fool’ just start going. It means the deal has gone sour.”

He nodded and somewhere inside himself, even though it would be a lot easier if the driver just died, Reon wasn’t sure he wanted that to happen. He had spent far too long alone, it seemed, or else he wouldn’t be weak enough to start caring for these people so soon. 

-

Kawanishi felt like the world was fucking with him. 

He had known things were gonna go sour from the moment they had entered that War Rig. He didn’t expect to leave this place alive, didn’t particularly want to. What he surely didn’t want was to go back to the Vault, to be pushed beneath a dirty old alpha. He didn’t want to have any more children dragged away from his arms. He didn’t wanna watch a child of his grow up in there and end up like Goshiki. He never wanted to be there in the first place, so dying on the Wasteland where he had grown up sounded much more appropriate. But he was not gonna go down easily anyway. 

When the Fool started driving he looked outside to see Ushijima trying to catch up to them, and readily put himself right at the hole's entrance to help him, luckily managing to pull him back inside when he made the jump for it. Kawanishi wouldn’t leave behind the man that had actually made this possible. No matter how much he had resented the man in his first year inside that vault, blamed Ushijima’s freedom for his own demise. He didn’t like think about it anymore, resenting the other was very counterproductive all things considered. Ushijima nodded at him before heading over for the cabin and sitting beside the new driver. They were fucked, cause now the bikers were after them and so were the war parties. The baby was crying, which made the whole sequence of events even more stressful, and Shirabu couldn’t make her calm down. Kawanishi was about to offer himself to try and sing to them, but Ushijima pushed the gun filled bag to him. Behind them the rocks had fallen, which might put some distance between them and the war parties. Even so, he saw so many bullets going around while both the Fool and Ushijima did their best to keep them away. It was all so surreal he didn't quite know how to react. 

That is, until Goshiki shouted "he's coming", his voice unsteady, and Kawanishi felt a shiver run up his spine as he put hid head out to indeed see the Coach’s Monster Truck approaching. It soon jumped in front of them, then was pushed to the side as the Fool (Kawanishi sort of felt like he should think of another way to call him) managed to avoid him masterfully. Everything was going too fast and by the gods, Kawanishi wanted it to stop. 

Goshiki suddenly grabbed his hand and pressed close to him, his eyes shining with resolve. "Hold me," he said simply before passing over Kawanishi for the door and then throwing it open only to hang outside the War Rig.

He did get an arm around his chest, though still shocked. Shirabu was shouting by his side to pull Goshiki back, but Kawanishi then heard the Coach’s voice warning Goshiki to get out of the way. Only then he understood that the boy hadn't gone crazy, but was instead putting himself in front of Ushijima, protecting him. 

The standstill kept going until Goshiki, leg bloodied as it was, slipped. Kawanishi lost his hold on him, couldn't soo him with all the sand flying around them. For a moment everyone seemed to hold their breaths, incapable of reacting. 

But then by some damn miracle the kid appeared, somehow still holding on to the War Rig, a smile on his face. Kawanishi saw Ushijima give him what seemed to be a small smile of his own back, but he couldn't afford to be distracted now, not after such a scare, so he grabbed Goshiki and pulled him inside at once, holding onto him for dear life. 

He could hear Shirabu ranting in desperation, but couldn’t bring himself to pay attention, just kept the kid there against his chest. Kawanishi had never been too good in showing emotions, but he could not let go of Goshiki right now. They could have lost the boy right then and there, and everyone seemed to be completely aware of that. Goshiki grabbed onto his shoulders, panting for air now that the moment settled in, and Kawanishi was so distracted by that he didn’t even notice they had made it out. That somehow, by the V8 - or not, fuck the V8 - the Fool had managed to loose those assholes. They were in a Wasteland, driving a War Rig, finally only the desert beside them. 

\--

They had been traveling for hours, the sun was starting to set in the horizon. Shirabu was quiet now, feeding the baby with a bottle of Mother Milk - they were very lucky the War Rig carried that too or else they might be in serious trouble on that front. Kawanishi was on Semi's other side matching bullets to guns and not talking at all, with Goshiki asleep on his shoulder, still really shaken by the whole almost dying experience, not that anyone would blame him. The Fool was still driving and Ushijima had managed to finally sleep a bit. He looked very peaceful, like Semi hadn’t seen him before. He was still beautiful, perhaps even more than he had been when he was younger, something about the raw power of freedom maybe. He wondered if the other liked what he saw on Semi right now, most days he didn’t like himself that much. His skin was too smooth, his hair too silvery, he was too alien in this destroyed place. An unpleasant reminder of what was going on around him, of the fact he was no more than a fancy plant in a green house. A toy for the Coach’s twisted pleasure.

“We need someone keeping watch on the back.” The driver said after a while in silence, looking over his shoulder, and Semi got up to make his way out the cabin. 

“I’ll got to the back.”

“You sure?” 

He grabbed a small handgun before going out the door. Hanging around the sides was hard, but some part of him remembered everything about living risky life like that. He managed to get to the back of the truck where a turret used to stand. He stood there for a solid minute or two just looking in the distance until he heard a whimper. Semi promptly turned back and pointed his gun, only to find a war boy laying on the ground, somewhat hidden from sight. When he looked up at Semi his eyes where reddened. 

“Shoot me. It will be better than staying alive like this.”

Semi frowned and with little hesitation sat in front of the kid. He wasn’t a very patient person, but he felt so bad for those War Boys. With the paint off the young man looked so hurt and fragile, and not only physically. 

“Don’t be like that. What’s the problem?”

Semi’s voice didn’t sound soothing and warm, he was quite aware of that, but it didn’t matter that much, the guy was very much on the verge of tears anyway. There wasn’t much he could do about that, so he waited until the kid spoke up. And he did, between weak sobs and staring at Semi like he was some sort of angel.

“I fucked up. I fucked up both of our chances of going to Valhalla because I’m a clumsy asshole. The Coach himself said we could be together in Valhalla if I managed to get the truck to stop with you guys inside. I fucked up, now Ushijima and I will never be allowed to drive eternal.”

Semi was admittedly caught off guard. This kid was... in love, a War Boy in love, how surreal that sounded. He supposed he should feel betrayed, that Ushijima had someone like that, but he doubted the War Boy had actually managed to get physical contact with the Imperator - it was so weird to think of Ushijima by this title. Everything about this was weird, if he was being honest. Still, he felt bad for the kid, not pity exactly, he just felt so bad. To the man he idolized he was no more than battle fodder, just as Semi and the rest of the Omegas were just breeders. And he didn’t even see that, because this life of worship was all he knew. 

“Don’t worry about Ushijima, I don’t think he would like Valhalla much anyway.”

“How would you know?” The question could have sounded aggressive, if the War Boy’s eyes hadn’t this weird glow of curiosity now.

“I know Ushijima well enough.” Semi didn’t want to tell this kid he used to be the Imperator’s lover. That he had heard confessions in bed while everyone else was busy, that he had offered himself so many times to be taken instead of Ushijima to spare him. That he had watched him doing the possible and impossible to make sure the Coach wouldn’t never have another of his never born children. Semi knew how much Ushijima hated Valhalla and the whole witnessing culture. Yet, that was another thing he didn’t think the boy needed to know right now. 

“Where would he want to go then? Can I help him get there?”

“He wants the Green Place. That’s where we are headed.”

“Green place? What’s that?”

Semi didn’t know how to reply to that. He himself didn’t know much about it, other than that it was a place where they would be safe. A place full of people like them, that didn’t base their lives around wars and pain and brainwashing children. Ever since Yamagata had started spinning the tales to them, Semi couldn’t stop thinking how his life would have been different if he'd gone there for shelter, if he hadn't thought the Coach in the Citadel was his only option, but this was no time to think of that. 

“According to Ushijima it's a place where no one rules over everyone, where people are equal and there are lots of trees and plants and food.”

“Sounds so... Weird. Not bad weird, but weird.” 

The War Boy was surprisingly giving it all a thought, so Semi just rested his back to the side of the small cockpit and went back to his watching duty. By then the Furious Vexation would have crossed the rock slide, but they didn’t know where they were headed so there was a chance they might not even be coming closer. He sure hoped so, violence was just so tiring and unnecessary. 

“Do you think they’d let me into this Green Place?" The War Boy whispered, his face still on the ground. "Even though I’m a monster? I can try to be good, I just don’t wanna leave Ushijima.”

Semi looked at him and couldn't help but to pat his bald head. 

“You’re not a fuck up, you're not a monster. And you're not the Coach’s battle fodder anymore.”

And very softly, he heard a reply as the kid moved even closer.

“Yeah, I'm not a thing.”

 

 

The War Rig stopped after a log while driving, and he was barely awake by that time. He moved a bit and the War Boy stared seemingly worried, Semi just hushed him before climbing down the War Rig. The rest of the group was there now, so he walked up to Ushijima, took a light hold of his arm.

“What happened?” 

Their new alpha acquaintance crouched not that far away from them, near the swamped wheels. They were stuck in the middle of nowhere, in plain sight of anyone coming. At least there was some fog to help with that. 

Ushijima started ordering them around, and Shirabu handed the baby to Goshiki so everyone else could try to get the war rig to move out of the mud.

They didn't have any success for quite a while, and by night fall Semi finally gave up. They were fucked unless someone came up with an effective idea. They needed someone who could deal with this War Rig, someone that could offer a different perspective. With that in mind he turned to the group, voice firm.

“I’m getting the War Boy.” Without waiting for any response he climbed the rig and dragged the beta down. Semi watched as he started working to move the War Rig, fixing some details and offering ideas, apparently able to ignore the stifling tension his mere presence caused.

When the first of bullets hit the ground near him, Semi startled. 

"Don't they know we're here?" Shirabu asked to no one in particular, doing a better job of hiding his fear than Goshiki, who had promptly run back inside the War Rig. They did know and they didn’t care, Semi knew that much. The big spotlight in front of the car would soon be their doom. 

Kawanishi took a big gun and handed it over to Ushijima. No one made a sound as their Imperator got on the ground, pointing at the oncoming vehicle, and hit the mark on the first try. It was such a badass thing to do, and Semi grinned a bit at the sight. He might hate violence, hate the implications of it, but he also knew when to admit it was necessary. 

And perhaps a small part of him was just glad he saw Ushijima smiling again, like he hadn’t in many years. 

 

\--

The Alpha was having a nightmare, Ushijima could tell. He could recognize only too well the way he shivered and held rigid. Fortunately only him was currently in this predicament. The rest of them laying on the back seat, barely fitting all there at the same time, were calmly asleep. It was strange, to see them like this, completely vulnerable and relaxed. He smiled to himself and kept driving. They were crossing a swamp, which he didn't recall from back then. But he didn’t remember much about the path anyway, he'd been too young, even younger than Goshiki was today. 

He looked through the rearview mirror at the rest of the group again, a sting of pain unavoidable at seeing Semi and Goshiki like this. He had seen the latter when he'd been so tiny he'd barely made it to Ushijima’s knee. Now he was pregnant with his own father’s child - every damn time he thought the Coach couldn’t make him sicker, the despicable excuse for a human being did something worse. He shouldn’t have left the kid behind, shouldn’t have left Semi behind, but staying inside that Vault wasn't an option either, he couldn’t phantom the idea of being nothing more than a hole to fuck. He wanted to be outside, to drive and to be free. 

When they got to the Green Place, he would redeem himself. Just a few more hours. Ushijima could do it easily. 

The sun was already up when the Alpha next to him woke up, startling himself and grabbing the gun tighter. Ushijima just gave him a look and a quick nod so the man knew everything was okay, he wasn’t much for small talk, even if the other did intrigue him. There were very few alphas and betas he could count on, and that weird one had claimed his place quite fast. 

“How much longer?”

“Less than half a day.”

“Want me to take over driving?”

He sighed and shook his head. He wanted to be driving when they got to the Green Place, it was the conclusion he needed, to enter there as someone’s hero. Not that he felt particularly deserving of the title, there was a lot he needed to do before it. 

They left the swamp in the middle of the morning, now around them there were only dunes and more dunes of sand. Gods, he only wanted to it make there, he wanted to see those people and feel safe once again. Everyone was awake now, and he almost wished he could find some solace on their hope. 

Tendou, who was half hanging outside with the binoculars to keep a track of the horizon, suddenly shouted.

“Boss! There is something up ahead!”

All of them stretched to take a look once closer, only to catch a glimpse of a naked body on top of tall metal structure. Next to him the Alpha just murmured. 

“That’s bait.”

Some part of Ushijima remembered himself very young, seeing someone going up a gigantic set of stairs to trick any idiots that thought they were harmless. He stopped the War Rig and told everyone to just stay inside for a moment, feeling a shiver of anticipation running down his spine as he stepped out and closer. 

“I’m Ushijima. I’m looking for the Green Place. My Father was Takashi Sorai of the Great Sea.” 

The person took no time to get up and bellow some kind of signal before getting to the sand. Over the near dunes several motorcycles appeared. They were here. The man walking towards him, clothed now, was someone he felt he'd known, and Ushijima tried to remember his name. The man frowned once closer, then his eyes widened.

“It is you.”

Keishin - Ushijima recalled after all - spoke loud enough that the ones now at a stop close to them could hear. Approaching him, the man put a hand to his shoulder, his smile tight. Another one of them, an elder that he remembered as being one of their Leaders, Nekomata, just held Ushijima’s face for several moments before speaking with a certain humour to his voice.

“You could be Takashi’s kid. How long has it been?”

“More than 6000 days, besides the ones I can’t remember.” He replied, a wave of relief passing through him. He had kept count of it diligently, it was a way to pass time and to never forget he'd been something before they dragged him to the Citadel, to the Vault.

“And your father?”

He felt his throat tighten a little. He didn’t like thinking about it, but they deserved an answer. His Father had been a part of them, Ushijima had been taken far too early.

“Dead in the fifth day.”

Nekomata looked down, and did a gesture Ushijima had forgotten about. One for when someone died, to take their soul and guard it inside you, something to make sure they would be remembered. Not that different from the War boy’s witnessing if one thought about it. A third man stepped closer then, shotgun in hand and a teasing look at those behind Ushijima.

“How are they surviving with clothing like that?”

He looked over his shoulder to the four standing with him, probably struggling to wait for answers.

It was only now though that Tendou and the Alpha left the War Rig, to which the same man narrowed his eyes.

“Those two?”

“They are with us, they helped getting us here.”

And they had, even irresponsible Tendou had. He didn’t want them harmed, it would have been easier, but it wouldn’t have been fair after all they had gone through together. Besides, he had promised to Semi no more violence than needed. He didn’t wanna disappoint him, he'd done that so many times already. Goshiki was next to him in no time, his excitement so innocent Ushijima's heart broke a bit.

“So, can we go there?”

“Where?” Nekomata asked, frowning deeply.

“The Green place.” 

Shirabu, Kawanishi and Tendou were now by his side too, awaiting for the answer. This was the climax to their adventure, the happy ending they all need for now. He had made a promise to bring them to the Green Place, and now they were here close to the people who could actually lead them there. People that didn’t want to lock them away and break them. 

“If you came from the direction of the Citadel, you passed through it.”

It hit Ushijima, then. The swamp, with its Raven-people and the mud. That chilling place couldn’t be his home, couldn’t be his dream paradise. The place of his few truly happy memories. Ushijima wasn't one to break down easily, but he felt like some deep part of him shattered at that. 

 

The following day he was still drained. It had been a difficult night, and most of them didn’t sleep, trying to think of what they were going to do now that their initial plan had gone to hell. Ushijima himself had spent the night next to Semi, both with the same sheet draped around them. His lover - did he even get to think of Semi like this anymore? He supposed not - reassuring him they would find a way to proceed. However, it was so much more than the future that shook him, it was the fact that everything this world touched was corrupted. 

Eventually they decided to stack up their motorcycles with all supplies they could and try to cross the salt planes. Everything but going back, even dying in the salt with no water or perspective was better. 

The Inari had even decided among themselves to let the Alpha come along, not something to usually happen among them, but that alpha had earned trust in the most unusual set of events. As Ushijima told the man that, though, he had only a sigh as answer. 

Now they were all climbing onto their bikes, leaving the War Rig behind. Semi was right next to him, already dressed in what the group had generously given them. Much more functional clothes and actual shoes for everyone.

Goshiki was curled on the sidecar of one of the motorcycles, expression sullen still. Tendou on the other hand was so fascinated by the motorcycles, talking no stop about how cool they were and asking technical questions about everything, which seemed to half amuse Nekomata and the rest of them. They said their goodbyes to the Alpha - didn’t even know the Fool’s real name and now never would - and got on their bikes to start the 130 day trip through the salt planes. 

They were barely a km away from their initial , though, when the Alpha closed them off on his own motorcycle. Ushijima frowned, his reflexes telling him to worry, even if the other was incredibly outnumbered and almost certainly not a threat. 

“You shouldn’t go there.”

“Where should we go then?” Kawanishi shot back, apparently losing patience at last.

“I don’t know. All I know is that one hundred and thirty days that way,” he pointed at the salt planes, “and nothing is gonna change, you'll still be in a plane of salt.”

“If you have any plans, we are listening.” 

“There is _a place_ in this whole blasted wasteland who has enough resources and is currently without most of its defenses.”

Ushijima would have never thought of going back on his own, but he had to admit that this was objectively a decent idea. Not like they weren’t in a suicidal mission already. 

_\--_

Everything was going so fast. 

Shirabu could barely look at the dead, bloody body beside him, and his hands shook as he held Ushijima and as the rest of their group jumped to their car. He was still holding Ushijima, having dragged the other inside even while his mind still couldn't quite compute what had happened. Shirabu wasn’t usually one to lack words or be completely shocked by anything, but then, it wasn’t every day that he helped killing the Coach. 

_They had lost part of the walls, Semi had been taken and was now in the Coach's car. Shirabu couldn't stop hearing his screams as he'd been dragged away from the Rig, despite all the deafening noise around. Two of the Inari guiding them had died run over by a truck, and he hadn’t seen it, but the look on Keishin's face was enough - the omega had even lowered his riffle for a moment, before his eyes hardened once more. And the worst part of it all was Ushijima. Ushijima who had gotten stabbed in the ribs, which was dangerous, which was the sort of thing that could truly get him killed. And if Ushijima died, what choice would they have but giving up?_

_Shirabu refused to go back. Once he had believed that bearing children to a leader was the greatest honor an omega could have, but he didn't buy that bullshit anymore, wouldn't let his own child live through it. His kid, his omega kid, deserved more than being locked in a vault their whole life._

_Shirabu held his baby close to his chest as the Coach's car managed to lock with the War Rig. Tendou took the wheel as Ushijima went to take his revenge despite being far from steady, and Kawanishi took a gun himself to keep other pole cats from dragging any more of them away. They needed a plan._

_For a long moment he wished he was more like Ushijima, Semi or Kawanishi, or hell, even more like Goshiki. He couldn't quite handle weapons, couldn’t do shit to help. One of the Alpha sons - the older ones, which some of their kids had been fated to become - climbed to the back of the truck and began beating Ushijima, all anger and aggression, shouting at them. For a moment Shirabu remembered having been brought from the Bullet Farm years before, how they had handled him like he was something precious, and suddenly the idea hit him._

_Discreetly he handed his baby to the beta accompanying the Inari, the one with the glasses who had taken care of them. Maybe he whispered something like ‘I’ll be back’, he wasn't quite sure, before making a bundle out of the fabric they had earlier ripped from themselves. He didn’t want to leave his kid behind, gods, he hated even the thought of it. He had lost others already to never be seen again, to have no news of other than maybe a ‘he is making his father proud’, which was even worse than nothing at all. Shirabu then heard another shout from the car ahead of them and he feared for Semi, had no time to dwell on himself._

_He stretched out of the Rig, holding the bundle as if it was his child, and it didn't take much to fool the Alpha now reaching for him. It wasn’t the brightest of plans, but it was all they had for at that moment and none of them could wait much. It wasn’t hard to convince the Alpha to pull him in, and after that he could really recall, adrenaline pumping too hard on his veins. He killed a person, which he'd never dreamed he would, but he'd pushed that alpha out of the car before helping Ushijima climb on the side. He had just kneeled there after that, frozen in the revelation that despite not having been raised to defy like this, despite not intending to hurt anyone, it felt good somehow. He was so absorbed in that he didn’t see when it happened, just felt the blood spraying and then absently focused on the mouthpiece dangling before him, dripping skin still attached to it._

His baby was returned to his arms, and Shirabu held him carefully. His eyes kept on the War Rig though, while Semi rested Ushijima on his own lap, trying to keep their savior from falling unconscious or worse. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting when Tendou finally made the jump, and for a second there he almost thought the War Boy wouldn’t make it, that he would be forced to witness another person dying. However, he did manage to jump to their car before the Rig flipped and hit the walls around it, sealing the passage once more. Some part of him couldn't help but wonder how many War boys died at that, how many more when the whole thing soon caught on fire, but now just wasn't the time for that. So he just turned to face the problems right at hand. Tendou was desperate and babbling as he made inside the now cramped space, asking about Ushijima but not daring to touch. Semi hadn't spoken n a while, holding the now passed out body of the Imperator. It’s the Alpha that did something in the end, not saying a single word as cut Ushijima one more, whose breaths stopped wheezing. He then took the tube still attached to himself and hooked it to Ushijima, to which War boy’s eyes lightened up, a maniac smile making its way to his face. 

“You’re an universal donor. Yes, yes, yes!” 

Shirabu looked at Semi, who was whispering something to Ushijima, slow blinking his only response. The Fool watched on, sitting back and just breathing for a moment before speaking at last, voice raspy and small. 

“My name is Reon." 

Ushijima didn't seem to hear him, but he did seem better now. 

They still had a long way to go, Kawanishi guiding as much as he could and Keishin on the wheel. Shirabu himself didn't know what to do besides focusing on his kid, who'd been so quiet all this time. He brought the baby to his face, nuzzled their cheek. 

“You are safe now.” 

He wished he was telling the truth. 

_\--_

The first night was the worst. 

Goshiki hadn’t imagined their whole Odyssey would led right back to the Citadel. He never imagined they might be able to change this blasted place for good. It still felt too much like the Coach’s place, not theirs. 

There had been death when they got there, so much of it. Some part of him had hoped the violence was over, the Coach being dead, they were in greater number and the people outside had their backs. Still, so many sick war boys had thrown themselves from the heights and most of the Alpha children of the Coach had killed themselves as well. Unnecessary bloodshed in the name of that disgusting excuse for a person who didn’t deserve all those lives. 

They hadn’t been able to get rid of all the corpses yet, a pile of them outside still burning slowly. Goshiki couldn’t bring himself to sleep, so he sat on the bed, looking at the others. Ushijima was still recovering from his injury, asleep almost peacefully on a bed, Semi cuddled next to him. Goshiki remembered when he was young, they used to let him sleep between them. Sometimes Semi would read books for them before sleeping. He admired them so much, now even more. 

Shirabu was asleep, which was a blessing. All that stress wasn’t doing any good, neither to him nor the baby. Not that Shirabu wasn’t a grump most of the time, but he'd been unsurprisingly acting even worse than usual. Kawanishi had passed out on the couch curled against a pillow. He hadn’t spoken much since they'd made it back, and despite him being usually silent Goshiki couldn't shake the feeling that there was something different to it this time. He didn't know if he should ask about it, didn't know much about how to act in this new life really. 

He wanted to do so many things, wanted to run around in the open, even if the mere vastness of the Wasteland made him anxious and scared. All 5.500 days of his life had been spent inside a locked vault, with no more than seven people around him. The Worm holes were crawling with hundreds of people though, and so many more stood outside. He didn't know how to feel about that yet. 

“You should grab some sleep.” Reon's voice cut into his wondering. The alpha had decided to stay, mostly because they'd insisted, but Goshiki wanted to think he had grown to like them somewhere along the last days. 

“I’m not that sleepy.” He lied. To be honest, just the idea of sleeping was terrifying. What if he woke up and all of this had been a dream? Or if suddenly a group from the Bullet Farm or Gas Town came to crush the breeders who dared to defy them? 

Reon sighed and moved from his spot against the wall, stepped closer after gesturing for permission to do so. Maybe Goshiki should mind having an Alpha so close to him, but Reon had already proved himself trustworthy. 

“Then talk to me.” 

“Hum?” 

“Help me stay awake. I’m supposed to keep watch through the night, if you talk to me it will be easier.” 

Goshiki beamed, happy to be helpful. He talked about how they were gonna request the Organics to open their records so everyone could know who their kids were, about how he didn’t wanna go in the Vault ever again but probably would have to at some point. At some point he came to Yamagata, his voice quieter, and how they would look for him even though there wasn't much hope. He had so many ideas about what to do with the Citadel now, things he had read on Books while growing up, so he spent a long time talking about that, and Reon just listened to him. 

There were things Goshiki didn’t say. That he wasn’t sure how he was gonna deal with his baby when they were born, that he wasn't sure he even could be a parent, that he just wanted to live without this kind of responsibility. He couldn’t tell the others that, lest he offend or even anger them. They certainly wouldn't understand. 

He just touched his belly and rubbed it a bit as all that came to mind. He wanted the kid to be alive, he just didn’t want to become like one of the omega’s in the books. He didn’t wanna become like his mother either - he didn’t even remember her, just knew she had died a while after he was born and that she was the reason he had a scar in his chest. 

He was basically rambling about any subject he could by then, speculating about a future. Reon was next to him, very silent and only occasionally giving a nod or a groan of acknowledgment. Only after a long time that he finally spoke as Goshiki stopped for a while to catch his breath, his stare steady. 

“That’s a lot in your mind.” 

“I suppose. Stay locked away with the same people for a long time and you eventually start overthinking everything.” Goshiki added with a smile, trying to keep the mood between them light. 

The older one sighed and patted his head, a bit like Yamagata and Ushi used to do when he was little. 

“Perhaps you should stop it for tonight? Enjoy a good night sleep with the people you care about.” 

“I don’t think I ever heard you speak so much.” 

This time the reply was a groan and Reon looked away, seeming mildly annoyed. Goshiki chuckled, having fun teasing. Whatever else he intended to say was interrupted by an yawn though, and he realized staying awake would be harder than it had seemed some time before. 

“Sorry for that.” 

“Sleep.” 

“I’m not sleepy!” 

“You are.” 

The alpha grabbed a pillow and shoved it into his arms, then pointed to the closest bed with a neutral expression. The younger man rolled his eyes before complying. It felt very different from the few alphas he had crossed paths with, he wasn’t obeying cause he had to, just because he knew Reon was right. As he laid down and cuddled close to Semi he heard Reon groaning something that sounded a lot like ‘good night.’ 

He couldn’t help but smile to himself, thinking that the other had fit in just well in their weird little family. They had made it, the future was full of possibilities, and for maybe the first time he closed his eyes and didn't dread so much what he would wake up to. 

**Author's Note:**

> This is highly based on Mad Max: Fury Road so some of the Worldbuilding isn't explicit, but if we actually manage to write the rest of thing we have planned for this Au there will be hella world building stuff. Any questions feel free to comment.  
> Anyway, Kudos, Comments and Bookmarks are always appreciated.  
> kissus  
> \- jawwn.


End file.
